There's Never A Right Time to Say Goodbye
by Teliko. x3
Summary: What happens when Gil thinks the team doesn't need him anymore?


**There's Never A Right Time to Say Goodbye **

Rating: It's okay... I hope.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Summary: What happens when Gil thinks the team doesn't need him anymore?

A/N: My friend Brittany P. and I came up with how Grissom will leave for his little 'vacation time' in January. Okay. Here it goes.

Done to the song Tonight by Staind and _inspired_ by the song, There's Never A Right Time to Say Goodbye by Chris Brown. YEAHUH. XD

* * *

"You're really going to do this, aren't you?" He said nothing. He stood there like a small child, with his head hung. "God almighty, you are. Why?"

"I need time, Sara."

"Time? All the time you've been given and you still need more?"

"I'm sorry." She blinked through her tears and quickly wiped them away.

"So am I." It was the last time Gil saw Sara for the rest of his absence of leave.

----

He walked through the halls, carrying a few folders full of papers and a dark suitcase. Nick, Greg, and Warrick all walked out of the A/V lab together and stopped Grissom in his tracks.

"Whoa, boss! Where ya goin?"

"I'm taking my leave of absence." Their faces fell.

"But... but you're coming back, right?" A look of guilt was all the three young, CSIs received.

"Griss, you gotta' come back! We can't run this place without you!"

"I won't be here forever guys. It's time for some change." The disappointment on their faces was almost too much for Grissom to handle. He had let the whole team down, and he knew it. The worst part was, he didn't even face the person that would make him feel the worst.

Catherine Willows.

"What about Sara," Greg asked.

"_What about Sara?_ My leave of absence has nothing to do with her or any of you."

"And Catherine...," Warrick asked.

"Ah... Catherine..." They waited for him to finish the sentence. "I guess we'll see how that goes."

----

The rest of the day went by oddly quick for Gil. He ignored almost everyone in the lab, except for the members of his shift. The time came when his shift was over. He walked into the break room to find almost everyone waiting for him with a sad smile on their faces. The only people missing were Catherine and Sara.

"Griss... we're gonna miss you, man."

"Things won't be the same without you, Gil." Jacque gave him a quick hug and groaned as her beeper went off. Nick, Warrick, and Jim gave him a firm handshake and chuckled to themselves as he slowly turned around to face Greg who had his arms spread out. He wrapped his arms around Gil and hung on for dear life.

"We'll all be waiting for you to come back home. You can count on it... Dad." Despite how completely ridiculous they looked, Gil have him a soft pat on the shoulder and gave everyone one last farewell.

Just try to understand this isn't what I planned  
This ride's out of my hands  
So now I'm forced to be something I can not be  
If only I could make you see

He walked outside to find Catherine leaning against the door of his car. He took a deep breath and slowly walked up to her.

"Evening, Cather-"

"You didn't tell me."

"Catherine..."

"Why are you doing this, Gil?"

"You guys don't need me anymore, Catherine."

"Is that what you think?"

Tonight, I'm alive  
I've watched you all grow up and so have I  
Inside this isn't really what I had in mind  
I no longer relate to this world of hate

"Do you expect me to stay around here forever and baby you guys when you know what you're doing?"

"It's more than that. You're here to support us. That's what a supervisor does, Gil. Gives support. Without it, we're nothing."

"Well that's what they have you for, Cath. You're just as must as a supervisor as I am." She shook her head slowly and closed her eyes.

"Think how much you're hurting all of us. Think way back... way back to when you first got the job." His lips turned into a small smirk as he remembered the small fight Catherine and him had about him getting the position before her. "Would you trade all of those years and good times with the team for just a stupid... hell, I don't even know why you're leaving!"

"Because when I thought it couldn't get any worse, it did..."

That's forced upon my plate  
I tend to disagree, I hope its not just me,  
alone if only I could make you see

"You're the one who got the lab to where they are now. You are the one that saved our asses from getting fired a thousand times over. Without you, we wouldn't last a week on the job."

"Stop exaggerating..." She gave him a small smile and shifted her weight. "It's more like... two weeks." She softly tapped his arm and let her hand rest there, squeezing softly.

"Don't go."

"I wish it was that easy."

"Where are you going then?"

"Back to San Francisco."

"Las Vegas lost it's excitement, huh?"

"It's time for me to... get along with my life."

"Your life is here. No matter how hard you try to convince yourself different, you know I'm right."

"Are you going to stand there and babble or are you going to give me a hug?"

"I want **more** than a hug, Gil." He gave her a sad look and stretched out his arms. She slowly wrapped her arms around his body and rested her head on his chest.

Back in the lab, everyone was piled up against the glass door, watching intensely. Greg shoved everyone out of the way and set his video camera on top of everyone's head to get a clear shot of them both.

"Really now. Almost twenty years of being best friends and all I get is a puny hug?"

"What more could I give you?"

"Don't think about this... just do it." She pressed her lips together and shivered as his hands softly rubbed her back. She slid her arms around his neck and backed up against his car. He tilted her head upward and softly pressed his lips to hers. A wind chill blew through the parking lot and made them both shiver. He broke the kiss and smiled down at her, nose and lips slightly red. He unbuttoned his jacket and wrapped them both up. "Are you still going?" The sadness in his eyes gave her the answer. She stood on her toes and pressed another soft kiss to his lips. "I love you."

"Cath-"

"Look, you just... call me when you get there and let me know that you're okay." He pressed her harder against the car and rested his head on her shoulder.

"You're killing me, here." She pulled back and looked down at her watch. Frowning, she said,

"I've got to pick up Lindsey from dance practice."

"Okay." They slowly broke away from each other, their fingers still laced together.

"I'll talk to you later." She turned to head to her car when he turned her back around and took off his jacket. He wrapped it around her small body and kissed her again.

"I'll call you when I get there."

"Goodbye, Gil."

----

She sat on her patio in the backyard, staring at her pool which was on the verge of becoming a huge chlorine Popsicle. She wrapped herself in the jacket Gil had given her and inhaled his scent as she did so. The glass door opened and Lindsey stepped out behind her mother. She placed her small hand on her mother's shoulders and frowned.

"Mom, come back inside. It's freezing out here."

"I'll come in the house in a few minutes."

"No. Now."

"A few minutes, Lindsey. Just let me think."

"You can think inside. I don't want you to get sick."

"I won't. You don't have any homework to finish?"

"I did it already. Just-"

"Lindsey! I said give me a few minutes!" She winced as the sliding glass door collided with the house. She sighed and shivered as her breath made a steam flow from her mouth. The door opened again. Without turning around, she said, "Linds. I promised you, I'm coming-" She turned her head slightly when she stopped. Gil was standing behind her with his suitcases in one hand and the spare key to her house in the other. "Gil? Gil!" She jumped up from the chair and ran into his arms.

"It's nice to see you too, Cath."

"But- I thought... what happened?"

"I changed my mind. My life... is here. In Vegas." She smiled.

"See! I told you! I-"

"My life... is here, with you."

**The end**

* * *

**A/N: Yeah. We know it's a little long. Sue us, why don't you. ROFL. We came up with that in Advisory today. Effin' thirty minutes of sitting around doing nothing what-so-ever! So! What we did was... took those thirty minutes, and actually did something usefull! MADE A GRILLOWS FIC! LOL! Tell us what you think.**


End file.
